The death of Steve Maia Caniço is due to the police operation orchestrated on 22 June 2019, shortly after 4am, to stop the music from the last sound systems installed on the Quai Wilson in Nantes for the Music Festival.
In its judgment handed down on Friday 20 September, the Rennes criminal court concluded that there was“a link between the police use of tear gas and the fall of Steve Maia Caniço in the Loire and, therefore, his death by drowning”according to Marianne Gil, president of the court.
The use of tear gas “contributed to creating the situation that led to the death of Steve Maia Caniço”supports Mme Gil. But this action “it does not constitute the direct and exclusive cause of death”. And Commissioner Grégoire Chassaing, who led the controversial intervention, did not “without guilt”On the basis of this analysis, the criminal court acquitted the person concerned of the charge of homicide.
On the night of the tragedy, the atmosphere was instantly set ablaze when a DJ restarted the music just as the sound had been turned off. Police were quickly attacked by a hail of projectiles and responded with a barrage of tear gas canisters, causing panic among the revelers. Quai Wilson, the venue of the techno party, had no security barriers at the time. At 4:33 a.m., Steve Maia Caniço, 24, an after-school activities animator, fell into the river.
“Main sentence” requested by the prosecution
On June 13, prosecutor Philippe Astruc and his deputy, Tanguy Courroye, asked the court to pass sentence and requested “a sentence of principle” against Commissioner Grégoire Chassaing. At the time of the fatal fall, the use of weapons by personnel under the command of the police commissioner was not permitted. “neither absolutely necessary nor strictly proportionate”The deputy prosecutor stated, also considering that“a retreat was possible”.
The mission was listed to stop the music at 4 am “on the commissioner’s roadmap”signed by its hierarchy, argues President Marianne Gil. To achieve this goal, Mr. Chassaing is “I stopped by here at the beginning of the night to see the DJs on the sound walls to warn them”. The exchanges, at that time, were “cordial”.
The clashes that broke out when the police returned were unjustified, the court said. The police officers, without helmets, explained “having resorted to the use of tear gas grenades not to ensure a law enforcement mission, but in a state of legitimate defense”.
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